


Normalcy

by yominonozomi



Category: Naruto
Genre: ANBU!Sakura, F/M, Multi, OT3, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-06
Updated: 2017-09-06
Packaged: 2018-12-24 14:18:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12014547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yominonozomi/pseuds/yominonozomi
Summary: In which Sakura decides that dealing with her teammates’ millionth departure gracefully is much more effort than she wants to afford them, and it’s about time the two of them experience the sensation of being left behind anyway.or alternatively: Sakura comes back from an unnanounced year long mission as her badass ANBU commander self and the boys just can’t fathom that she would be anything other than ecstatic to see them(Sasuke’s slightly less of a dysfunctional ass, Naruto’s put his big boy pants on, and it’s all downhill from here.)





	Normalcy

When Sasuke finally returned to Konoha, it was without the fanfare he had initially expected (and dreaded.) Naruto was there, of course, steady by his side as he had been since before Sasuke could remember, and Kakashi was smiling (actually smiling, he could tell by the faint crease in his mask and the slight shine in his eye) as he handed over a gleaming new headband and announced him pardoned.

Pardoned- an apt word choice, he thought later in private. Pardoned, but not forgiven.

But there was no crowd to cheer (or protest) the end to the prodigal Uchiha’s decade long reign of terror. No council members calling for blood or imprisonment, no weeping widows. Just the quiet atmosphere of Kakashi’s messy kage office and the warm Konoha sunlight filtering through the windows.

The grey haired man squeezed his shoulder, not an unwelcome gesture, and said, “okaeri.”

Sasuke blinked away the surreality.

“Tadaima,” he returned, feeling farther away than he had in Oto.

It was not until they returned to Naruto’s stuffy apartment and sat down for the first time in days that he placed a finger on what had been missing.

“Where’s Sakura?”

The blonde glanced up from the pot he’d been aimlessly stirring, startled, both that the silence had been broken and that he had been the one to break it.

“Mission,” he said simply, matter of factly.

“Mission,” Sasuke echoed. Quiet, processing.

“Mm,” grunted the blonde, busying himself with sprinkling something into the pot.

Sasuke stared at the tense lines of his teammate’s back and felt questions tug at the tip of his tongue and hang there.

“With who?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know.”

“I just said that,” Naruto flashed him an annoyed look, sloshing broth into two bowls and hissing when it rose up to nip at his thumb.

Sasuke accepted the dish and let the air settle over them, watched the blonde shove tense spoonfuls into his mouth, rolled the questions around in his mouth.

“Where?”

“Where what?” Naruto grit out.

“The mission.”

The blondes nostrils flared.

“I don’t know.”

“For how long?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know.”

His face twisted in annoyance.

“What are you, a fucking parrot or something?”

Sasuke stayed quiet at that, and watched his friend deflate with every breath.

“Sorry,” he said this time, quietly, fiddling with the end of his spoon. “I don’t know because Kakashi won’t tell me.”

“Ah.”

Sasuke let that be the end of it.

Weeks later, when they had settled into a routine that could almost be described as normal, it came up again. The bar was rambunctious and full of sloshed shinobi, the opposite of where Sasuke wanted to be on a late Friday night, but he’d be coerced by the nostalgia of seeing his old classmates and Naruto’s brick wall insistence.

(Sasuke was reluctant to admit that a few drinks in he may have actually started enjoying himself.)

It’d gotten late and the alcohol was pulling on his eyelids but the Inuzuka was howling laughter at something, the others chuckling along with him at Naruto’s expense, and Sasuke let his attention be drawn in.

“Man,” Kiba scoffed, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye, “I can’t believe you two made out right in the middle of class.”

Naruto rolled his eyes from behind his glass, too used to getting flak for that particular incident to be embarrassed.

“We didn’t make out, Kiba.”

“And Sakura’s face!” The dog-nin practically shrieked, dissolving into another round of snorting laughter.

“Ah, that’s right,” Choji perked up at the name, “when does Sakura get back?”

Naruto went suspiciously still.

“Soon,” intoned Kakashi from his spot at the edge of the bar.

“That’s good,” Chouji gave them a small smile, “I bet you two miss her.”

Sasuke made a distracted noise in the back of his throat, watching Naruto stare Kakashi down with an intensity he was more than familiar with. The older man didn’t shy away, and Chouji cleared his throat in an attempt to cut through the sudden tension,

“I bet you guys were proud of her when she got promoted.”

“Yeah, commander is a big fuckin’ deal,” Kiba said with a hearty slap to Naruto’s back, “Ino was pissed.”

“Of course,” Naruto said through tight vocal chords.

“She’s been gone a long time now,” Chouji continued, “what’s it been like six, seven months?”

“Ten,” the blonde offered quietly.

Kiba gave a low whistle.

“To Sakura’s safe return home,” Kakashi raised his glass, eyes intently trained on Naruto’s. 

“To Sakura,” they all echoed.

Naruto submerged himself in the dark liquor in his glass and stayed there for the rest of the night.


End file.
